A series of one shot chapters about Bucky Barnes mostly told in the first person by different people. Stories will reflect different times in the life of James Buchanan Barnes. This is PG rated and any sexual content will be kept to a minimum.
Mar...
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For several days I had been watching Steve Rogers and his friend, Sam Wilson. Steve was still recuperating and the attention that the man, Wilson, gave him made me accept responsibility for his safety as well. So far no other HYDRA operatives had showed up to finish what I refused to do. At first, it was hard for me to accept it as anything but a failure of my programming but as the days went on and I began remembering the memories of my past I understood that the failure of the programming was my lifeline to humanity. No longer was I subject to the orders of the ones who took me away from everyone I knew and everything I was. Their lies no longer controlled me, and even though the words were still there I knew that the longer I stayed free the stronger my mind would become.
On the third day I stopped at a store where I bought underwear and T-shirts, looking at the pictures on the packages for anything that resembled what I already wore, then paying for them with cash. There were strange looks at me by the staff as I did it but I attributed it to how dirty my appearance was. Perhaps Wilson's apartment had a shower where I could clean up so I took the liberty of entering his apartment while he was at the hospital, knowing that he would stay there until dark. It was easy to break in unnoticed, not that it would be hard for me, with my skills.
As I wandered through Wilson's apartment I noticed he had what appeared to be a washing machine and dryer. I remembered something similar from several of the safe houses I was kept in, although I was never allowed to use them. It couldn't be hard, though. There must be instructions. I searched the top of the stacked unit and found a laminated card covered in dust. Brushing the dust off of it confirmed that if I followed these instructions I could wash the clothes I was wearing. Kicking my boots to the side I took everything off, emptying the pockets and putting all the clothing inside the washing machine. The instructions said there was a pull out piece with partitions where I could put the laundry detergent. Opening the cupboards nearby I found a bottle of liquid laundry detergent and filled the one partition marked for it. Sliding it back in I looked at all the buttons then at the instructions determining which ones to push. Since my clothes were quite dirty I picked one marked Extended Wash and pressed it. There was a sound of water entering the inside of the drum then it stopped and began to spin slowly, turning several times. It was kind of interesting so I sat on the floor and watched it as more water was added. Foam began to appear and I was satisfied that the detergent was being distributed. I was washing my clothes!
As I sat there, I could smell something quite foul and realized it was me, so I pulled myself away from the spectacle of the washing machine and entered the bathroom. It was set up similar to those in the safe houses but was much nicer and cleaner. I looked at the various bottles on a shelf inside the shower, identifying body wash, shampoo and something called conditioner for use after rinsing the shampoo out. At first, I wondered why Wilson had shampoo and conditioner as his hair was very short, cut close to his scalp. The answer came quickly ... sometimes he had guests staying with him, ladies if the images on the bottles meant anything. Examining the handles to turn on the water I was surprised to see there was hot water, not just cold and I turned both to a setting that felt good on my hand. Carefully I stepped in and poured some shampoo in my hand, distributing it equally between my two hands and applying it to my hair. A memory of doing this in another place came to me and I relaxed so that the memory could expand. It was a more basic place but a happy one and a sign with flowers on it kept coming into my mind, Eden. It was someplace I was at before, by my own choice, a safe place.
